Sandberg replaces Manuel amid monthlong slump

Ryne Sandberg’s first shot at managing in the major leagues is better than no shot at managing in the majors, but not by much.

The team he inherits in Philadelphia is a mess. The Phillies have won just four of their last 23 games, a skid that took them from on the fringe of playoff contention to the fringe of finishing last in the NL East—seriously, they’re closer to the Marlins than they are to .500.

“We’ll continue to try and assess what Ryne can bring to the table and how he handles the situation,” Philadelphia general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said during Friday afternoon’s press conference announcing the switch from Charlie Manuel to Sandberg.

That’s gotta be comforting.

Sandberg is a Hall of Fame player. He’s worked his way through the minor leagues as a manager—Class A, Class AA and Class AAA—leading teams into the playoffs and winning Manager of the Year awards along the way in both the Cubs' and Phillies’ farm systems. He’s been with the Phillies all season as their third base coach, his resume is pretty impressive and he’s paid his dues many times over.

But apparently his resume lacks the answer to one key question: How is he at handling Dumpster fires?

That’s what this team has become. Since a 13-8 win against the Mets on July 19—which boosted the Phils to a season-best one game over .500—this squad has a .218 batting average and a .271 on-base percentage. Those are both worst in the majors in that span. The pitching staff has a 5.12 ERA and has allowed an opponents’ OPS of .798. Both of those numbers rank 29th of 30 major league teams, respectively.

They’ve been outscored 128-72 during those 23 games and if you take out a 12-1 victory over the Cubs, the scoring difference is an astounding 67 runs.

That’s not a competitive team.

But it is Ryne Sandberg’s team, his first—and maybe only, who knows—shot at proving he has what it takes to be a big-league manager.

This is a franchise with all sorts of problems.

They have immovable contracts with declining players still on the books—Ryan Howard is owed $75 million over the next three years, not counting a buyout of $10 million after the 2016 season if the option year isn’t picked up (hint: it won’t be), and Jonathan Papelbon is owed $13 million each of the next two years.

When Amaro had an opportunity at this year’s non-waiver trade deadline to turn veteran free-agents-to-be with expiring deals into younger players, he decided not to move Michael Young or Carlos Ruiz. He gave Chase Utley, a 34-year-old second baseman who hasn’t played more than 115 games in a season since 2009, a two-year guaranteed deal with three vesting options and a full no-trade clause. A franchise with a desperate need to get younger passed on a golden opportunity to actually get younger; to provide an influx of talent.

But this is Sandberg’s shot. With this group, he has 42 games to show his general manager—who was very clear during the press conference about his non-commitment to Sandberg, by the way—what he “brings to the table.”